Have your students felt a disconnect between the science units you are teaching and their own experiences? Have you wished for ways to make science more meaningful and engaging for your students? Would you be interested in a variety of quick tweaks and longer adaptations you can use to make your science classroom more inclusive, community-connected, and culturally responsive?

IslandWood has convened teachers, the developers of Amplify Science, Educational Service Districts, and Seattle Public School’s science department leaders to help students make meaningful and authentic connections between the science they are doing in their classroom and their region, community, and personal funds of knowledge. Last year, a teacher team developed a “Localizing Guide” for the 8th Grade Amplify Science Natural Selection Unit, and we are looking for teachers willing to pilot and provide feedback on the ideas they came up with.

This is a FREE online course that is geared towards Western Washington teachers who have access to the Amplify Science Natural Selection unit and are teaching or supporting it this spring. Participants can earn up to 9 clock hours (5.5 STEM and 3.5 Equity) for completing all asynchronous work and attending all Zoom sessions.

Asynchronous pre-work and introductory videos will provide the opportunity to become familiar with the localizing guide and see how activities that incorporate local animals and plants, student-led research about local related phenomena and local articles can help make the unit more relevant for your students. In the first Zoom session, you will talk with other teachers about implementing localizing adaptations, look for community assets that could support the unit’s learning, and decide which adaptations you want to try. Additional optional asynchronous opportunities throughout the course will offer the opportunity to review the unit’s learning progression and learn more about the local animals, and how geographic features and urbanization in Western Washington has affected local animals’ traits.  Follow-up zoom sessions will provide an opportunity to explore additional adaptations, discuss how implementations have gone, build local content knowledge, and share feedback about the guide.

 Additional Notes:

•    This pilot is intended for teachers who will be implementing the related Amplify Science Natural Selection unit with students this spring. Teachers and others who are not teaching the unit are welcome to join but will not be able to receive clock hour credit for completion of implementation reflections.

•    The guide is designed to support Western Washington teachers in localizing the unit to the region, their school and their students. 

•     Attending this course with your grade-level team is encouraged. 

•    There is a pdEnroller fee to claim the clock hours ($3 per clock hour).